Plan 'C'

When Plan A is no longer an option!

After three attempts at an external version to turn my beautiful breech boy didn't succeed, my doctor advised against anything other than a C-Section. Which was so far down my list of preferences, I already had a birth doula and scented candles at the ready, so this did not fit with my image of bringing my baby into the world!

There was one extra twist in my pregnancy tale, being new to Candian shores and submitting my visa application once I got here, my medical coverage was not yet in place and whilst it's a long story it would not start until three days after my due date and no one seemed able to help with that.

So at 41 weeks, four days after my due date, holding my brand new medical card, at 5.15am my husband and I left the house, we dropped off some books in the library drop off box, my husband got a coffee at the drive through. My stomach growled having not been allowed to eat from 12pm the night before. (I do want to give a hats off to my wonderful husband who at 11.30pm cooked me a pancake feast!)

We arrived at the hospital, without any of that movie drama / comedic dash full of high jinx and funny moments to recant in later days. I was admitted and hooked up to machines and was advised I was having six & a half minute long contractions (so that's what they were, been having them for 3 weeks!) and could I please hold on the appointed two hours until my doctor was on duty as the current doctor is not a fan of breech births!

Trying not to feel too panicked by this, I settled into my calm happy place and just hoped that it would all go to the 'new plan'.

I wasn't warned that I would have to walk myself into the operating room, through intimidating double doors, that my husband and I would be apart for 20 mins plus for the prep part and nothing prepared me for the chilly environs of the operating room! Well without going into too much detail here, they hooked me up to the blood pressure monitor, but unfortunately with the cold and my reaction to the medication I was shaking so much that the monitor could not read my pressure and would alarm, unless a nurse came and knelt on my arm to hold it still!

Once 'in there' my doctor (my hero) advised me that she had been right to recommend just going straight to a section and that I had a heart shaped uterus and that was why he was breech and also why my painful versions had not worked. Well good to know and thank heavens for my doctors great instincts!

(Prior to my section I had had a hard time dealing with the news that I should not try a 'natural' labour. However I had done my best to keep a positive outlook on it all and just focus on the outcome - becoming a family. My concern was to not pass on my worries to my baby and thereby continuing to give him the best fetal origins possible.. to be discussed further, later.)